Idul Adha celebrated nationwide
Idul Adha celebrated nationwide
JAKARTA (JP): Millions of Moslems here celebrated the Islamic Day of Sacrifice yesterday with solemn prayers in mosques and in fields, and with the slaughtering and distributing of livestock to the poor.
From almost every mosque in many parts of the country, the sound of bedug gongs and the chant of Allahu Akbar (God is Great) echoed since Tuesday afternoon and ceased only minutes before the Idul Adha, or Sacrifice Day, prayers began.
The majority of Moslems started the ritual on Monday with the recommended two-day fasting and the selling and buying of livestock. In market places, women were seen buying ketupat -- rhombus shaped packets of plaited young coconut leaves, in which they made rice cakes.
The rice cakes were later eaten with curries made with the distributed meat.
Festivities marked some of yesterday's activities. In various corners of Jakarta and Depok, for instance, small groups of people gathered to watch skilled butchers slaughtering the sacrificial animals.
Orphans and other people considered mustahiq -- rightful recipients -- lined up to receive several kilograms of meat each.
President Soeharto and Vice President Try Sutrisno said their Idul Adha prayers in the Istiqlal Grand Mosque, along with tens of thousands of Jakartan Moslems. K.H. Abdul Aziez Muslim, an ulema from Bogor, led the prayer.
The congregation, which also consisted of a number of top government officials and foreign dignitaries, heard the sermon given by Effendi Zarkasi, a member of BP7, a body in charge of disseminating state ideology Pancasila.
Afterward, President Soeharto presented his family's offering, a cow weighing 703 kilograms, to the ad interim Minister of Religious Affairs Saadillah Mursyid. Vice President Try Sutrisno gave his offering, a 605 kilogram cow, to the Istiqlal Mosque's official, Aswasmarno.
The two cows were included in a number of livestock slaughtered and distributed by the mosque's leaders.
Two messages dominated the sermons in many mosques yesterday: the willingness of Moslems to surrender a portion of their wealth to redress social gaps, and the process of haj pilgrimage which reached its peak in Mecca yesterday.
In Istiqlal, Effendi Zarkasi told the congregation that the willingness to do without, coming simultaneously from a great number of people, may create so great an impact that a nation could reach its glory.
Indonesia won its independence in 1945 because people were willing to sacrifice even their lives, he said. "There is no way that the great task of development can be completed without unity and togetherness, and the willingness to make sacrifices," he said.
In the Al Azhar Grand Mosque, preacher Din Syamsuddin told a congregation of about eight thousand people that the potential of Moslem communities never becomes reality due to the communities' own shortcomings.
Weaknesses
"The weaknesses of Moslems are many, ranging from the lack of social, educational, economical to political infrastructure," he said. "Many Moslems are still living in abject poverty, have low- quality education, and are unable to compete economically with other groups in society."
Preacher H. Anjar told the congregation in the Cut Mutiah Mosque that Moslems should divert conflicts and strengthen the feeling of brotherhood among them.
"Islam is a religion of peace...don't create an image that Islam likes to fight or terrorize people," he was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying.
Preacher Anwar Abbas told Moslems praying in the compound of the Golkar office that too many people worship the thought of material wealth. "These people love many other things more than they love Allah," he told the congregation which included Golkar chairman Harmoko.
The political grouping yesterday donated 75 head of livestock to be slaughtered and distributed to people living nearby.
In the Armed Forces (ABRI) headquarters, H.Z. Arifin Nurdin said in his sermon that Moslems should emulate Prophet Abraham in his willingness to sacrifice everything in order to seek God's blessing.
"Without sacrifice and trials, our experiences are not yet complete..our faith has to be put to the test," he told some 5,000 people.
On Tuesday evening, ad interim Minister of Religious Affairs Saadillah Mursyid said in a speech greeting the holy day that Sacrifice Day, which originated from Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Prophet Ismail, and became a part of the haj ritual, teaches Moslems the value of equality. (swe)